Faith

"It is not faith that saves, but faith in Jesus Christ... It is not, strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith. The saving power resides exclusively, not in the act of faith or the attitude of faith or in the nature of faith, but in the object of faith."

- B.B. Warfield

Just something I came across while reading today.. definitely caught my eye and reminded me it's not about me, it is simply and truly only Christ that saves. It is all about Christ, nothing else. God saves!

On another note, it's been over a month since I've been home.. it has been an interesting time transitioning back and I've had a lot of time to reflect on my time in India. I'm in the process of writing my testimony, and hopefully it will be something that will encourage and bless others in how God has blessed me so much. If you'd like to read it, let me know :)

is it really September?

September!!!!!!! Have I really not posted for a month and half? My apologies..
I shall make up for it with a super long post.. BRACE YOURSELVES!!!

So wow it has been a really long time. In the meantime, there's been a lot going on..
Let's see..

1. We had a missions team from GLMC come and spend time serving at St. Paul School and AECS. All I gotta say is you GLMC folks are quite interesting and unique.. in very special ways, hahah. But praise God that you got to come and take part in the ministry here! I will post a picture of these awesome brothers and sisters later!

2. I've been able to lead two very awesome 9th standard (grade) boys named Shadrak and Kingston. I meet with them twice a week and just spend time going through the Word and discipling them. I also have been meeting with 12 students from 9th Standard individually about twice a week. It lets me get to know them on a personal level and help them in whatever way I can. I also have been able to take part in helping disciple 10 students from the 8th Standard. It's kinda hectic keeping up with when to meet up with them and making time but God always provides and it has been a wonderful blessing to read the Word with them and grow together with them. The hope is that as they are discipled, soon they will be able to disciple the younger students. :)

3. I've been continually teaching Scripture at St. Paul School, teaching them some dope concepts like justification and sanctification and all that good stuff! Don't know if every student understood every part of every lesson but my hope is that seeds were planted and God's gonna water them! I have also been teaching English at AECS (the seminary here). I gave a midterm.. boy I feel like an official professor! So, I was debating whether to make it easy for them or make it super duper hard. I chose to make it relatively easy but some of those suckas still didn't do well! It's ok.. my hope is that they'll do better on their finals! :) It does help me realize more that English isn't super easy for everyone to grasp... so don't take it for granted! Being taught in America is such a privilege we have... and we should be all the more thankful for it.

4. At the same time... I've been translating the missionary's articles here! He writes in like super old-fashioned Korean.. so it's quite a challenge. As some of you may well know, my Korean on a scale of 1-10 is like a 2. Seriously, my Korean is turrrible. But it has been a huge blessing to try and translate his articles because it helps me understand his heart for India a lot better and also to understand more of the ministry here. I would send you some of the articles I've translated... but I donno if they'd make sense, Hahaha. But yeah if you want a read, holler at me and I will send one over to read :)

5. I moved rooms! I got upgraded to like baller suite.. haha okay not really but it is much more spacious. And my bed is huge! It's meant to be for like 3 people but I get it.. to myself.. ha ha ha!!! I'll show you a picture later. I cleaned out my old room today also.. so byebye to that room.

6. I turned 23! :) It wasn't a particularily crazy day but it was a nice day. My first birthday outside of home.. a good one I'd say :) Thanks for all the birthday wishes on FB!

Mmm okay,
A few prayer requests I'd ask for in my last weeks here..

1) The ministry here, specifically AECS (the seminary) and St. Paul School. A lot of times, it might get mundane for all the seminary students and St. Paul School teachers but please pray that they would take advantage of every opportunity they are given.. whether it's to be equipped and learn as a student, or to be teaching and shaping the future men and women of India. Please pray that it would not get dull but they would see what a blessing and privilege they have to serve God!
2) The missionaries here, please pray that they would live depending and relying on God's strength alone and not theirs. Also pray for patience and understanding on their part.. the ministry can be frustrating sometimes, I imagine, even though they don't show it.. so yeah definitely lift them up in your prayers, ESPECIALLY if you have been here through KCM or church or whatever. :)
3) My health - both physically and spiritually.. lately I've been feeling a little sluggish physically. I guess part of it is my sleeping habit has been thrown off lately but yeah if you could pray that I would have enough strength and energy to serve faithfully! Also, if you could pray that I would be spiritually supercharged everyday to do the ministry's work! ha ha! supercharged!

Alright enough chit chat... now time to get to the good stuff! Pikchaaa time!!!
(WARNING: There are going to be A LOT of pictures... enjoy!!! Share a comment or two if ya feel!)

So Aug. 15 (yes I know, that's a month ago) was India's Independence Day.
The St. Paul School kids put on a whole performance! Pretty awesome stuff.
Here we got our missionaries saluting!

Get yo umbrellas out because that's when I brainstorm..
(If you know what song this is, props to you!)

All I can say is these kids know how to dance! They're like born with dancing genes.. haha
Hahaha this picture makes me laugh. It's all about them Mickey Mouse gloves..

Yeah!!! St. Paul School #1 in INDIA! and our #1 President!

This is almost the same as the previous picture.. but Missionary Chung is flying!!!
Hahaha these pictures make me laugh.. sorry if you're not entertained.

All these kids dressed up as famous Indian people.. so cute haha

Stunna shades! This kid knows wuts up!

Yep.. they can dance. You gotta watch the videos to really believe it!

The awesome 10 students (disciples) in the 8th standard discipleship!

My two 9th standard discipleship students... Shadrak and Kingston :)
Pray for them!

With the GLMC team and a couple other missionaries! :)
(I've been to the airport so many times dropping off/picking up people...
I just want to go in haha)

With some awesome brothers and sisters in Christ :)
More young adults!!! It was truly a blessing to worship with them even though there was often a language barrier.. :)

AECS, #1 in ASIA! yeayuh!

Samuel and Daniel.. my right and left hand.
These kids are so cute. They came from Korea for 2 months... knowing little to no English and yet they made the most of their time here. No complaining at all. Love these kids!

Receiving my birthday gift :)

It's all about them stunna shades.
This is my attempt at pretending I met an Indian celebrity.. ha ha ha!!

And I will end with a picture of an awesome brother in Christ.
We call him Timothy aka Timothy Brother aka Timoshee.
Right now, it is just him and me in the office.. pray for us!!! :)

Hope you enjoyed this post! :)
I only have about 3 weeks left here... yikes!!!
I will try and update once again before I leave. :)

Please continue to pray for the ministry here, the missionaries, myself and for the nation of India :) Thank you! God bless!

In His Grace,
Jimmy Neutron :)

Entering another new month

Wow, today is the last day of July. Tomorrow is August. (Duh and DUH!)

I know it's a cliche, but time really does fly.

When I was here in April, I wondered how I would think about my trip a certain amount of months in... now I'm here and I feel like it went by too quick!

An update for you bloggers..

After much thought and prayer, I've decided to stay here another month! :)

There are many reasons for it but I really do love everything here and I have the opportunity so.. I want to make the most of it. It's a tremendous privilege being here and ... I am just really glad to be here. So, instead of September, I will be back in October.

The process in making the decision was kinda long and stressful at times but I really have learned a lot through it, especially what a wonderful family I have. I respect and love my

So, I must say I am quite sorry for the lack of updates.

It has been a very very busy month with guests and many missions teams here and hosting them, with our other ministries still ongoing at the same time..

Then there was a certain time where I got sick and got hospitalized.. bummer.

This past week, I got to start teaching English to the seminary here (AECS)... it's a privilege and also very good time just to share what little I know with them and hopefully benefit them.

Right now, with my students, I'm going through the topic of sin and salvation with my students. Many of them know the common answers like Jesus saved them and to go to heaven, they need eternal life... but I've been trying to go really in depth and put things in a way that they can understand. I tried to help them understand the idea that they cannot save themselves by giving the image that we are all drowning in the middle of the Indian Ocean (cause you know we're in India...), with no land in sight and you can see a light in the distance. Now, you have a choice... you can try and swim with all your might to some sort of safety from drowning.. or you can call out to help where the light is (cause you know Jesus is the light..). So I presented this choice to the students and I was like, what's the smart choice? It helped me teach them that trusting in their own selves for salvation will get them nowhere. They have heard so long about sin and salvation, since they have heard it for so many years but I really wanted them to know the severity of sin and how much they needed to be saved from it, not by anything in them but from the one and true Savior, Jesus.

My students are awesome though.

I don't know if I wrote this in a previous entry... but really, there is nothing like the smile of a St. Paul School student. I pass by so many of them everyday, before school starts or walking to the class I'm teaching, or in my classrooms, or after school or wherever on the street... man when they smile, it melts my heart. These kids are seriously so precious not only in my eyes, but more so in God's eyes.

Now.. there are some naughty kids. So, I have to be a little tough with them but overall, I am just so happy to be around these students...

In my heart, St. Paul School is #1 in the WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, I'll stop talking.

Here's some pictures from the last month or so.

Enjoy!

Feel free to ask me any questions if you're curious! :)

Dancing with the students at Sunday School worship!

Although I do not dance well, it is still fun :)

Hahaha one of the Sunday School children memorizing Scripture with motions :)

I believe he is memorizing Proverbs 3:5

Some of the students from my math and english classes came out to Sunday worship!

(Plus, one of the short-term missionaries in the back.. he's a funny fellow)

So..... many...... students!!!!!!! :)

One of the missions teams from Korea with the St. Paul School band and missionaries :)

Hahahahaha this kid is awesome!!! I'm digging those shades

A couple of my 4th standard students learning some wonderful math :)

Hyunwoo, he's like the younger brother I never had but always wanted :)

When I was sick in the hospital.. he was there too! Cause he had the same exact thing, haha.

A wonderful brother in Christ :)

Our awesome brothers and sisters from ANC did some great ministry here!

They spent about a week mentoring and leading select students from 9th standard.

The disciplers and disciplees! (<-- are these real words?.. haha)

This is the only picture I could find of me. What a (insert your own word) face.

I would say... stinky :)

After every assembly, where they gather all the students to welcome the guests...

All the guests must shake hands.. with all 2000 students! That sure is a lot of times to say "Good morning!" and "Jesus loves you!" hahaha

One of my 4th standard students came to the office randomly one day...

and gave me this! Seriously... these kids are so precious.

I have never been an happier uncle :)

Some of the 9th Standard students at Sunday Worship! Some awesome kids :)

My 8th Standard boyeeees! :) LOVE THESE BOYS!

A lot of pictures of the students... but that is really where a big part of my heart is!

Their smiles and eager desire to learn ... St. Paul School, #1 in India!

I will try and post more pictures soon!

Continue to pray for the ministry here and also for myself, that I would be an effective and useful servant for the work God gave me to do here. If you could, please pray that my teaching to the students at St. Paul School and AECS (the seminary here) would be effective and that God would use it for His glory :)

Off I go now..

Catch ya later!

Jimmy

God is Good, All the Time!

Namaste! (Hello!)

Truly, God is good... all the time. All the time, God is good.

My main focus these days has been on teaching my St. Paul School classes.

Although it is only for 30-40 minutes in the morning, it is still an important and awesome time!

Teaching has been such a privilege and joy.. it really is the best part of my day!

I'm currently going through my second set of lessons with my classes, which is on the doctrine of God and what He is like. I have a few classes where I just get a lot of blank faces.. but I have a few classes where everyone is geared in to what is being taught. It's a work in progress but I am definitely praying daily that the words and lessons I teach wouldn't just go in one ear and out the other but really sink in their hearts and would really impact and pierce their hearts and minds!

Today, I started reading "The Five Points of Calvinism" by David Steele, Curtis Thomas and S. Lance Quinn. MAN, this is good stuff. I highly suggest it to you all to read! :)

One quote I'd like to share comes from J.I. Packer, "For to Calvinism there is really only one point... the point that God saves sinners."

THAT IS THE TRUTH! That is why I'm here in India... why I am teaching these students from Scripture, why I believe in the Gospel. I was saved and therefore I hope to share this message with as many others as I can, that they would be saved also :)

I shall share a few pictures with ya'll :)

Enjoy!!! Pictures always are worth a thousand words... PLUS MORE!

So, on Saturdays, the students get to dress up in their colored uniforms...

It's really nice to see because they're not all wearing the same thing for one day at least.

I might have to get me one of these uniforms and blend in with them.. hahaha :)

One of my students that I taught last summer... now he's in 2nd standard(grade)!

He grabbed me and he was like "Teacher James!"

Definitely couldn't forget his face... he was one of those kids who kept running up to me during my lessons, haha.

Hahaha, I found this really funny...

One of the students was teaching her classmates. She was pretty serious too..

Education is no joke!

Hakyung and Hyungjin... two of the missionary kids.

They are a bundle of energy and joy.. that never runs out, haha.

One of my 10th standard classes singing songs.

Every morning, to start the day, they sing at least 2-3 songs.. pretty cool!

Ongoing construction at St. Paul School!

Here they're concreting/cementing the surface!

I wish I knew more about what's going on... haha oh well.

It's cool to just look at!

We watched the Korea vs. Greece game with fellow missionaries and church members...

This is after Korea's second goal.. look at the happiness on their faces!

I didn't realize how exciting soccer is.. GO KOREA!!!! :)

Teaching our Sunday School children about why we sang the VBS Song "Power"

and talking about God's power! :)

And.. I'd like to end with a song that's been on my heart lately.

It's a classic, old-school song that never loses its meaning or power!

"God sent His Son, they called Him Jesus

He came to love, heal and forgive

He lived and died to buy my pardon

An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow

Because He lives, all fear is gone

Because I know He holds the future

And life is worth the living, just because He lives"

AMEN! :)

Please continue to pray for St. Paul School.. for every classroom, student and teacher... so that the school would be used to raise up men and women of God who believe in Jesus Christ and the grace that He gives so freely!

Please also continue to pray for AECS and all the preparation ongoing... for all the professors and all the students that are coming. They'll be here starting in about 2 weeks!!! Wow, how time flies.

Until next time,

I hope all of you are well! :)

May God continue to reveal more and more of His never-ending love to you, that you may go forth and share that blessing with others and bless them!

Class is in session!

St. Paul School has begun!

Which means... I get to start teaching! :)

Today was my first day teaching, it was awesome! The students were finding out their new classrooms so they were shuffling in and out during my lesson but nonetheless, it was very good to teach these students about Jesus Christ and the Word of God! I'll be teaching 6 different classes in 8th and 10th grade, so I'll be seeing a new class everyday. It should be exciting and I will definitely share of hopefully many stories and testimonies!

St. Paul School, #1 in India!

^ Those of you who have been here know what that's all about... hahaha :)

(These next thoughts are very random... read with caution.. haha!)

Two days ago, we went on an adventure into the city market, which is basically where they have wholesale for anything you could possibly want. It's like one store next to the other.. and it stretches on for a very very long time. There aren't really crosswalks at the market (actually none in India), so crossing the main street was much like playing Frogger.. I think if I was one of the frogs in the game, I wouldn't last too long, haha. It's pretty chaotic and challenging to walk across a street.. appreciate the sidewalks we have in the U.S., haha! Basically, we went there to research prices for various things that they need here at the schools... a very fun and enjoyable experience in the deep heart of the city.

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of instrumentals and hymns. Music is awesome! Hymns especially.. the words are so powerful, I could never get sick of those songs. The words are so rich with meaning and it makes me wanna praise God that much more. Some of my faves include Fairest Lord Jesus, The Love of God, It is well, In Christ Alone... yeah among others. Instrumentals... there's no words so you just get to really soak in all the instruments and sounds... if you get the chance, check out Craig Armstrong - PM's Love Theme (it'll probably be familiar from a popular movie), Michael Giacchino - Let Us Drink Milk, Explosions in the Sky - First Breath After Coma. Hope you like em!

One thing I have been learning (among many things) is to take advantage of every opportunity. It is something they really stress here.. to make the most of every opportunity. Paul talks about it in both Eph. 5:15-16 and Col. 4:5 ... not to let times go to waste but really maximize every chance and opportunity you get, every day you are given, every person you interact with! I know it strikes me at the core since my time here is very limited (it's almost going to be 2 months!) but definitely I want to take this to heart with my opportunity to serve and teach the students here... but also that you would be mutually challenged and encouraged to make the most of every opportunity you're given.. no matter what it may be!

I've also come to appreciate how many different ministries that are ongoing all at the same time here.. it's pretty amazing. For instance, on Saturdays, they minister to lepers who come to hear a message from the Word of God and are given a small donation as the government allows. On Sundays, they meet as a Korean church to minister not only to the Korean adults working here in Bangalore but also the children and the young adults. Many of the young adults who come here to work or intern have never gone to church before so this is a way for many of them to come to know Christ! Even in India, God uses the ministry here to reach out to those Koreans! Then there is St. Paul School, which is an established school recognized by the govt. (Nursery - 10th grade), built upon Christian and Biblical principles... so that we may reach out and share the Gospel to the future men and women of India to be godly Christians... AECS (Asia Evangelical College & Seminary), which trains men and women to be pastors and full-time servants of God.. and these probably aren't all of them. These are the only ones I'm aware of so I'm sure there's a few more but it's amazing! God is working in many powerful ways, so please if you could continue to pray for all the work being done here and all of the servants!

Alright I think I've talked long enough... picture time!! ... enjoy! :)

So about 3 weeks back, we had a picnic day with some competition involved.

This was the "young" team but young doesn't necessarily translate to victory.

The "old" team took us down pretty bad (probably cause I sucked, HAHA)

The "old" team... 4 of the missionaries God has placed here in India!

From left to right: Caleb, Moses, James, Johan

Korean adults are so passionate about table tennis... beats me why, haha!

The entire group! :)

We sent requests to various ministries asking for donations to the seminary here...

Our first package of resources from Sovereign Grace Ministries! Yes!!

Hopefully the first of many to come!

The banner Edward made from scratch for St. Paul High School!

Impressive, indeed... the picture doesn't do it justice! :(

Ministering to the lepers with the Word of God!

Pastor Prabir, one of the faculty members at AECS, preaching about grace!

Yeah... not what I originally thought it was from far away...hahaha

Also, lanes dont really exist in India either...

It's more like fill up every possible space and wait for green!

No such thing as lane discipline.. even if they paint lanes, haha.

I shouldn't learn from them... or else I will be an endangerment back home!

First day of school... it's like an endless amount of students!

They just keep coming.. and coming, hahaha!

Teacher Babu, one of the 10th standard teachers...

We got to share a meal with him a couple weeks ago, a really awesome brother in Christ!

Remember him in your prayers as you pray for St. Paul School!

And they just keep on coming... hahaha

Students starting off their day singing praises to God! :)

Please pray for...

1) St. Paul School - all the teachers and the students, esp. the ones I am evangelizing to and sharing the Gospel with, that they would really understand and come to truly know God!

2) All the workers and missionaries that are working daily for God's kingdom and also for all the ministries I mentioned above!

3) God would continue to use me as a light and witness to all I come in contact with!

Thanks!! :)

Hope you enjoyed this post!